Elements of Toulmin Argumentation

Vocabulary flashcards defining the key components of an argument diagram: Claim, Grounds/Facts/Evidence, Warrant, Backing, Qualifier, and Rebuttal.

Claim

The main point the speaker or writer is trying to make.

Grounds / Facts / Evidence

The evidence supporting the claim.

Warrant

An often-unspoken assumption that connects the grounds to the claim.

Backing

Strengthens the warrant by providing additional evidence or reasoning.

Qualifier

Limits the scope of the claim with phrases like 'most likely' or 'often'.

Rebuttal

Addresses potential counterarguments.

Backing

My neighbor Tim has three German Shepard dogs

Warrant

Dogs are common pets that bark and howl

grounds/facts/evidence

Barking and howling can be heard outside near my house

claim

There are dogs outside somewhere in my neighborhood

Qualifier

The howling and barking is most likely from dogs

Rebuttal

It could be wolves or coyotes instead of dogs

Ad hominem

An attack on the person rather than on their argument

Bandwagon

urge people to follow the same path as everyone else is taking

Begging the question

An argument that assumes the premise of a claim is true

Dogmatism

Asserting that a particular position is the only one conceivably acceptable within a community

Either or

Reducing the options for action to only two choices

Equivocation

An argument that gives a lie an honest appearance; a half truth, plays on the meaning of words

Faulty analogy

An argument based on a misleading comparison

Hasty generalization

Argument based on insufficient evidence

Moral equivalence

Suggesting that serious wrongdoing don’t differ in kind from minor offenses

Non sequitur

The conclusion does not follow from its premise

Faulty causality

Argument assuming one thing causes/ caused another thing that happened sequentially

Red herring

Serves as a diversion tactic to lead someone way from the real issue

Sentimental

Manipulating an emotional response in place of a valid or compelling argument

Scare tactics

Imagining something terrible happening that is actually statistical rarity

Slippery slope

An argument that something will inevitably happen without providing any evidence that it will

Straw man

Oversimplifying another’s argument to attack it easier

Appeal to false authority

Using the opinion of one’s self or an authority figure in place of an actual argument

Confirmation bias

the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories

Dunning Kruger effect

The tendency for people with low expertise in a subject to overestimate their own ability and vice versa

Sunk cost fallacy

The tendency for people to be reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when the abandonment would be more beneficial